Part 2: Fighting off a Heartbreak
by AsnGothic
Summary: Full summary inside. You don't need to read Part 1 to understand Part 2, I just named it for no reason. NejiTen
1. Chapter 1: The Mission

"Part 2: Fighting off a Heartbreak"  
  
By: AsnGothic  
  
Summary: Basically, the title has nothing to do with this story. I just wanted to write a series from my first "Fighting off a Heartbreak" story with a new couple in every new part. This one is NejiTen. The basic backbone in this story is about Gai's team going on a mission and Neji and Tenten think about each other. XP Pretty lame, ne? Well, enjoy!  
  
Couplings: NejiTen. . .Maybe Lee/? later  
  
Warnings: Slight language warnings, characters may be a little OOC but not completely.  
  
~  
  
AsnGothic: Well, I decided to write NejiTen. Oh. . .this is so unfair. You guys only like stuff like SasuNaru and KakaIru, right? Well, I can't think of anything but minor couples! Oh well, good for me. I tried as hard as I could.  
  
Kasumi: Feh. You could do better.  
  
AsnGothic: Shut up.  
  
Kasumi: Why did you make this a part 2 of another fanfic? No one will read it that way!  
  
AsnGothic: Ha! Wrong! Someone's reading it right now! -Points-  
  
Kasumi: Hello! -Waves- I did most of the writing!  
  
AsnGothic: =_=;  
  
Kasumi: /We/ own nothing! XP  
  
~  
  
*~Tenten's Pov~*  
  
Bitter rivalry. That's what was always going on around my group. They would never quit! Neji was already a million steps ahead of Lee, but Lee was the only one to master Gai-Sensei's forbidden technique. Those two were always competing. Since when did I become third wheel?  
  
I admit, I wasn't as loud as Lee or as good as Neji to get noticed as much as them. Was I not good enough? I stared down at my hands ashamed. Was I ever going to get noticed? I don't want to be left out. . .  
  
"Ok, group! Today we have a mission!"  
  
"Yeah!" Lee pumped up his fists, not tired from our training at all.  
  
I took my usual seat next to a tree and listened intently. Gai's missions were never one to impress any of us. Neji and I both usually thought Lee was hyper about anything.  
  
"We're going to work part-time at a ramen house!"  
  
". . ." Identical silences were heard from all of us.  
  
"A Ramen House????!!!!" I yelled to Gai, jumping up to my feet, "That's your mission???!"  
  
Lee just stared at him. As usual, Neji didn't look very surprised at all. I gaped at both of them.  
  
After a while, Lee jumped up and smiled at Gai, "Yeah! A ramen house!"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
How could . . .those two . . .get hyper about. . .a ramen house? I stared at them both like they were crazy. "You two. . ."  
  
"Forget it."  
  
I turned around to face Neji. Neji never even looked fazed. "Neji! Our mission is to-"  
  
"It's nothing. We'll deal."  
  
"But Neji-"  
  
"Just don't get in my way."  
  
I fumed up. Don't get in my way? What was that? Did he think he could handle it on his own? As if I wasn't feeling damned enough. I grabbed his collar, and I expected him to pull away immediately, but he didn't. His white empty eyes bore into mine.  
  
"Neji! We're a *team.* We're *supposed* to work together! So stop being such an. . .ass, and let us work!!" I shouted at him. For a minute, I just stood there, my hand still on his collar. He had the tiniest bit of surprise on his face. I quickly let him go and flushed.  
  
"Er. . .well, um yeah." I stammered. "Right then. We're a team, Neji" I walked away. I could feel his eyes still on me and I smirked. 'He likes me more when I'm assertive. . ." I thought 'Maybe I should try this out more often.'  
  
~  
  
AsnGothic: Oh dear, this was only 2 pages not counting my ramblings. . .  
  
Tenten: One and a half  
  
AsnGothic: AAAHHH! Really?  
  
Neji: Yeah  
  
AsnGothic: -Sobs- I wanted to work hard, really! But I forgot my whole dumb plot! Oh. . .  
  
Neji: Forget it. Just say this is an intro or something.  
  
AsnGothic: ! Brilliant! Ok, guys, this was an intro and I'm already working on chapter 2. ^_^ So read and review, and if you guys are anxious for NejiTen, I *am* working on it so don't complain! 


	2. Chapter 2: Midnight Musings

AsnGothic: "Midnight Musings" by AsnGothic. I own nothing, but my sad little fanfic in my attempt to righten the amount of NejiTen on ff.net. -Whispers- Are they gone?  
  
Kasumi: -_-; Stop being so professional.  
  
Neji: Yeah.  
  
Tenten: She's such a show-off.  
  
AsnGothic: Agh! Read, read, read! Hurry before they reach you!  
  
~  
  
*~Neji's Pov~*  
  
That day we hiked all the way to the Earth Country to work at a ramen house. Imagine how stupid that was: Hiking to a far country just to work at a dumb noodle factory. For customers, they were pretty impatient. They made us work our butts off before the end of the day and we got to rest in our room. Yes, Lee, Tenten, and I had to share a room. A large room, mind you, with three futons laid on the ground. Gai-Sensei got his own big old room. *Sure*, he gets everything. We're the ones working and he's the one watching and ordering ramen for free.  
  
~Flashback~  
  
"Hey, guys, how're you doing?" Gai called to us from a booth.  
  
"Ok, Gai" Tenten replied without looking up from her pot.  
  
"Fine, Gai!" Lee saluted to Gai from behind the counter.  
  
". . ." I said nothing. He expected us to be fine here?  
  
"Well, since you're doing okay, I think I'll order a megasize ramen." He smiled with his freakishly glistening white teeth that I didn't know how he managed to keep such a creepy white.  
  
"What?" Tenten shouted to him.  
  
"Nuh-uh, I'm a customer." Gai shook his finger at Tenten.  
  
"I'll work on it, Gai!" Lee said happily.  
  
"No, I want Neji too."  
  
I glared at him without looking at him. 'What a lazy ass. . .' I thought. I went into the back kitchen and glanced around for some pots. I found instant ramen packets on the counter. Instant ramen? What kind of professional ramen house was this. I smirked. I grabbed an instant ramen counter and popped it into a boiling pot. 'I'll give Gai ramen' I thought.  
  
"Nuh-uh, Neji" Gai shook his finger at me like he did at Tenten. "Don't take the easy way out."  
  
I smirked. Gai was. . .right behind me. I started stirring the pot and answered, "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Ohoho" Gai laughed, fake intimidation in his voice. "Has Tenten-san gotten over to Neji?" I froze. How did he?  
  
"No." I said.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Nothing happened."  
  
Gai grumbled and looked away, then sighed. After a few seconds, he pointed to the burnt ramen and said, "Fix it."  
  
I gaped at him. "You did that on purpose!"  
  
He chuckled. "Amazing. I didn't think /ramen/ could burn."  
  
I glared at him one more time before he walked out. Then I grabbed another instant ramen packet and shoved it in. He never tasted the difference when I handed it in.  
  
~  
  
Like I said before, for customers, they were very impatient. All of us were pretty much tired, even Lee, but he didn't show it. He was still trying to beat me. He took 50 laps around the ramen house. Tenten shook her head disapprovingly, but I could tell she was amused through her eyes. I stared at her. I couldn't take my eyes away. 'What am I doing?' I thought. I tore my gaze away before my eyes craved her again. I quickly grabbed my clean clothes and muttered, "I'm going to take a shower."  
  
"Okay" she said. Her nose was in a book.  
  
I smirked at her. She was reading about romance? The slightest bit of a blush was on her cheeks. From the arch in her eyebrows, she was very much into the book. Tenten didn't know, but I knew almost everything about her. How she fiddled with her hands when she was nervous about an upcoming mission. How she'd turn red from holding in chuckles every time Lee made her laugh. How she'd play with her hair when she was angry at Gai (She almost tore off her hair once). I knew more about her than she knew about herself. Sometimes it was scary.  
  
~Later that Night~  
  
I couldn't sleep.  
  
Tenten snores.  
  
She really does. Pretty loudly. I glanced over at her from my uncomfortable rough futon. She said she got the comfiest one, but they all felt pretty much the same to me. Lee just took the last one. She rolled over on her futon smiling, then snored lightly again. I guess she was right. I couldn't sleep. . .  
  
I steadied my gaze on her. There was a tiny bit of drool on her mouth. Then she closed her mouth again and breathed softly. Then she'd open it again and annoy me until the morning light. She looked so endearing. I wanted to slap myself for thinking this.  
  
'I can't sleep' I thought 'I guess It won't hurt if-'  
  
I inched nearer to Tenten. It was just like earlier today, I couldn't take my gaze away from her. This time she wasn't awake so I didn't have to worry about anything.  
  
Before I knew what was happening, I was running my hand through her hair. 'Hmm. . .soft' I thought. I pulled away quickly and my eyes widened. 'What the. . ."  
  
I looked at her again, leaning down closer. This time I ran my fingers across her face on my own will. My hands were fairly rough. I didn't know how she managed to sleep through this. Every step I took and every move I took, I glanced at her to check if she woke up.  
  
I kissed her cheek softly. Even her cheek was softer than my lips.  
  
I pulled away, my eyes as wide as plates. 'What was that?!' I questioned myself. My breathing was hard and I felt my heart beat. It quickened when I heard her grumble in her sleep.  
  
Even if Lee and I were rivals, he had one thing I didn't. He had the will to protect someone precious to him. I bet I could easily. But then again, did I have someone precious to me? I glanced over at Tenten. Did I always? Did I- Did I love someone. . .?  
  
I sat back down on my futon. Her snoring was melodious. She started off slow, then louder, then louder, then unbelievably loud. Then she'd stop. In my mind, I was happy when she stopped so I could finally get sleep and be ready for tomorrow, but I knew I wanted her to continue. Then she'd start again and I didn't know *what* I was thinking. Her singing brought me to her again.  
  
I inched over to her, this time using both my hands to caress her face. She stopped snoring. I froze in my place, but I didn't go back to my futon and pretend nothing happened. I just stared at her. Like this morning. Like this afternoon. Like everyday I was with her. I had my gaze on her. Then I smiled. I stared at her lips.  
  
I leaned down closer to her and felt her light breath on my face.  
  
I leaned down closer that I felt the heat generated from her body.  
  
I leaned down close and my eyes got dizzy from being so close.  
  
Then I collapsed and fell asleep behind her.  
  
~Next Day, Third Person POV~  
  
Tenten yawned and stretched. She blinked away the sleep in her eyes and smiled happily, stretching out all the aches in her back. She saw how close Neji was and noticed he wasn't sleeping on his futon. She inched away quickly before jumping up from her futon.  
  
"I sure slept well! How about you, Lee?"  
  
"I slept wonderful! Like a log" Lee shouted happily.  
  
Tenten smiled brightly. "How about you, Neji?"  
  
A snore.  
  
"Neji? Neji?"  
  
'He sure snores loudly' Tenten thought.  
  
~  
  
AsnGothic: ^__^ Please R+R! I'm a little happy with this chapter. . .but I could do better.  
  
Tenten: He did that when I was sleeping?? O.o Why couldn't I have been awake . . .??!  
  
Neji: -Blushes furiously-  
  
Kasumi: You guys are annoying. . . 


	3. Chapter 3: Coming Back

It was finally time to leave the ramen house, and even if it was one day, it really took a lot out of us. I think it took the most out of Neji because he wouldn't wake up until we dumped cold water on him. The image of having water dripping off of him reminded me to all our other missions. I don't have any siblings, so I didn't know what it was like walking into someone when they were taking a shower. Or, atleast, I didn't know what it was like walking into a /sibling/. Many times, I walked in on Neji and Lee and they were almost completely naked. They did the same to me. Nowadays, it was no big deal anymore because we did it a lot. Of course, not to Gai. That was definitely a very very good thing.  
  
After my wonderful sleep, we had to pack up our things and hike back to the Fire Country. Somehow, the hike up seemed a lot less tiring.  
  
"Are we there yet?" Lee asked Gai.  
  
"No."  
  
"How about now?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Now!"  
  
"Lee, go take 100 more laps. . ."  
  
"Hai"  
  
I giggled, watching as they argued and then Lee took 100 laps around all of us while we walked. We eventually stopped for water, but when we had to get back on the trail, I was still so tired. I glanced at Neji and Lee. They were both /still/ competing. Both didn't look tired at all, but I knew they really were. They couldn't hide anything from me. Being the only girl on the team, they knew they couldn't. Even then, though, I was still more tired than me. My breathing became harder.  
  
And then I was on Neji's back.  
  
Neji was /carrying/ me.  
  
"What are you /doing/?" I asked him.  
  
"What does it look like."  
  
"Like you're carrying me."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Let me down, I can walk."  
  
"You're tired."  
  
"Neji, stop flirting with Miss Tenten." Gai said. Neji glared at Gai.  
  
"I am not."  
  
"You are."  
  
I clutched onto Neji scared, because he was spinning me around. I shrieked.  
  
"Neji, stop it!" Lee called. Neji smirked at them and stopped. Pounding on his head, I said,  
  
"Neji! That wasn't funny!" He didn't answer like always.  
  
Eventually, I knew I'd fall asleep on his back. I didn't want to, because I would never hear the end of it from Gai and Lee, but Neji was soft. For a cold person, he was very warm. . .how was he this warm? I smiled onto his back and it felt like I was melting on him.  
  
/How/ was I having these feelings? When did I start thinking about Neji like this?  
  
"Let Tenten down now, Neji." I felt myself being put back down on the ground again and my thoughts stopped. I wanted to be on him again. . .I don't know why. . .  
  
"Arigatou, Neji." I smiled at him. He huffed.  
  
Even if he didn't show it, it was obvious that's how he says 'your welcome.' I knew Neji better than anyone would've thought.  
  
"We're here!" Lee shouted happily. Gai smiled and said, "See, that wasn't hard."  
  
"Gai-Sensei! You made us hike forever to get to a ramen house!" I yelled at him.  
  
"I'm sure you had fun." Gai winked knowingly. I felt my face heat up and I turned away.  
  
"I'm going home now."  
  
"All of you can go home now." Gai said to us. We all took off in different directions.  
  
~  
  
I combed out the tangles in my now wet hair and stared into the mirror. I've grown a lot since the first time we were assigned into our teams. Had Neji noticed? I've never. . .had these feelings before. I hated the way I looked. There were a bunch of girls prettier than me. If I was prettier, maybe Neji would notice me. I sighed in the mirror.  
  
No.  
  
I can't have these feelings.  
  
I want to be strong! I can't show these emotions to anyone. I looked down, then back up at my mirror.  
  
"You need to be prettier." I said to myself. I felt stupid, but no one was looking so it was ok.  
  
Or I thought no one was looking.  
  
"Do you always talk to yourself?" someone called.  
  
"Neji!" I backed away surprised.  
  
He chuckled. I breathed, relieved that it wasn't someone else and sat down on my bed. "I'm the only one who'll listen to me." I laughed. It sounded better in my head than when I said it out loud.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
I smirked at him and I was about to walk over to my bathroom to grab a towel, when he replied back,  
  
"If it matters, I think you're perfect the way you are."  
  
"Ne- "  
  
By the time I turned back to reply, he was gone. Fuming, I muttered, "He's always leaving like that. . ." But I smiled. Neji thinks I'm perfect. I don't want to fight these feelings anymore.  
  
~  
  
Woo. . .I wrote a lot today. . .  
  
~  
  
Review Answers:  
  
LilSasamiGrl: ::Smacks Yoh:: You're despicable. Anyways, woot! Yeah, NejiTen rules!  
  
Cj: Yup, NejiTen is just so cute. . .  
  
Cookie6: I'm writing more. ^_^  
  
Matrixheavyarms: Wow, I got aw as a review! Cool! Sugoi. . .someone likes my writing! XDXD  
  
Beckaholic: Yeah. . .keeping Neji in character isn't easy. @_@ I probably messed up on this chappie too. . .oh well. XD I'm obsessed with SasuNaru. . .but I haven't written much about them. . . 


End file.
